A side sill assembly, or rocker assembly, of a vehicle body includes an outer shell and an inner shell that house reinforcing members. Reinforcing members are required to meet structural standards in side impacts and small offset collisions. Side impact tests include a Moving Deformable Barrier (MDB) Test and a Side Impact Rigid Pole (Pole Impact) test. In the MDB test the side sill assembly is subjected to bending and torsional loading. In the Pole Impact test the side sill assembly is subjected to bending forces.
Side sill assembly reinforcements are required to meet all of the requirements while being subjected to different forces and loads from different directions. The reinforcement must effectively manage energy absorption and bending deformation of the assembly to meet SORB and side impact requirements. The weight of side sill assemblies must also be minimized to meet weight reduction and fuel economy objectives.
Referring to FIG. 1, a fragmentary side elevation view is provided of a portion of a side sill assembly 10 attached to an A-pillar assembly 12 that includes prior art reinforcements 14. Reinforcements 14 are attached at spaced locations on the inner panel 16 of the side sill assembly 10. The reinforcements 14 provide protection against side impacts but the side sill assembly 10 is subject to axial loading in SORB impacts. In a Small Offset Rigid Barrier (SORB) test the side sill assembly axial loading may result in bending of the side sill assembly 10.
This disclosure is directed to solving the above problems and other problems as summarized below.